The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) said it is awaiting the arrival today of 26 Filipinos from Israel who were stuck in Qatar and repatriated due to escalating tensions in the Middle East.

OWWA Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan said that as of today, 283 Filipinos have contacted the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) hotline and the Philippine Embassy in Israel. Of these, 26 have been repatriated and are currently in Doha, waiting for clearance to fly to Manila.

Caunan noted that not all of the 283 Filipinos who called the hotline are willing to return home, citing reasons such as hopes that the conflict will end soon or discomfort with traveling amid tensions.

Qatar’s air traffic on Monday temporarily closed after its neighbor Iran threatened the U.S. with retaliation following strikes on its nuclear sites.

Caunan said DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac and Assistant Secretary Veny Legaspi, along with Filipino repatriates, were on the plane but had to get off due to the closing of airspace.

“Actually in total, Secretary Hans Cacdac and Assistant Secretary Veny Legaspi of the DMW are there. The group includes 26 Filipinos from Israel [and] then three from Jordan, one from Qatar, and one from Palestine,” Caunan said in a radio interview.

She added that the expected batch today is the 37th group to be repatriated from Israel, as voluntary repatriation in the Middle East has been ongoing since last year.

Qatar’s airspace reopened on Tuesday.

Aid provided

Caunan said the DMW and OWWA are providing P150,000 in aid—each agency giving P75,000 respectively—to repatriated Filipinos.

The DMW said that besides financial assistance, the government will provide free training for upskilling through the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Department of Labor and Employment for job matching.